Waiver or Ratification of Alleged Misrepresentations By Subsequent Insurance Company Conduct

<i>'Fraud!' cried the maddened thousands, and echo answered fraud;But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed.' Ernest Lawrence Thayer,</i> Casey at the Bat.As most readers will know, after this couplet in which the baseball player Casey scorns to dispute the umpire's call on the second strike, Casey proceeds to swing and miss the third pitch, striking out. Thayer's poem does not contain any indication that the slugger then sought to go back and contest the ruling on the second strike.Unlike the notorious batsman, however, insurance companies frequently bring actions to void coverage on the grounds of alleged misrepresentation or 'fraud' in the application for insurance, when they themselves have scorned to contest coverage upon first learning that they may have a basis to do so. Whatever the rules were concerning untimely protests in 1880s semipro baseball, today's insurance coverage law is clear: An insurance company waives any right to void coverage for alleged misrepresentations or omissions in the application, if, after it learns it may have grounds for such relief, it does not promptly seek the relief, but instead takes any action inconsistent with an intent to treat the policy as void.

15 minute read October 30, 2006 at 03:19 PM

By

Michael T. Sharkey